Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch provides safe, age-appropriate toys and sports equipment for both indoor and outdoor play. Activities are designed to fit the needs of boys and girls of all age groups.
The activities promote constant learning challenges and focus on succeeding and helping youth to build self confidence and self esteem. Supervision of the wellness activities by the Wellness Coordinators/Recreation Specialists at all campus sites, ensure that the risk of injury during play is greatly reduced.
Some of the activities include:
- bicycling
- sledding
- hiking, running, going for walks
- weight lifting
- aerobics
- soccer
- play on equipment especially designed for students with special needs (Bismarck)
- gardening
- going to the movies, museum and libraries
- cooking
- volunteering
- Taekwondo and Karate
- Swimming and boating
- …and many more
There are many reasons why Wellness and Recreation is an integral to programming at the Ranch.
- Wellness activities provide a means for relaxation, frustration venting, stress reduction and a place for kids to deal with feelings and learn constructive ways to deal with feeling positively. Feeling positively may not have been the typical “way of life” for many of our teens, but rather an environment of stress and fear.
- Wellness activities give DBGR staff opportunities to relate to the youth in the best of circumstances, which can promote better understanding and a foundation for building rapport.
- Especially important to new residents, wellness activities can help them adjust to the Ranch program and give them a group to identify with—new surrounding can sometimes feel threatening to them.
- Wellness helps youth to develop self and group pride, character, a concept of life—competition, and aids in physical and mental growth.
- Socialization. Activities, vs. using “rules,” allow the residents to experience the possibility of following societal rules in as non-threatening way as possible.
- Wellness provides an opportunity to learn sportsmanship. There are countless times in life that we win or lose. Through activities, the Ranch staff give youth a chance to handle both success and failure in acceptable ways.
- Wellness can teach youth what a structured environment and the physical and mental benefits of recreation are.
- Recreation is an important and should be used by the individual for his/her best interest. The Ranch promotes a wide variety of activities—from aerobic workouts to basketball, from bicycling to museum-going, from weight-lifting to dance. We encourage the residents to use their free time in a positive and acceptable manner.
After each wellness and recreation period, each resident has a post-evaluation, depending on what type of behavioral contract he/she is under. The evaluation is based on attendance, behavior, participation and group achievement.
The Wellness Program for Youth, Fargo
Fargo Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch’s Wellness Program believes that the definition of wellness is the following:
“Wellness is a multidimensional state of being, describing the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and a sense of well-being[1].”
Our goal is to provide a Wellness Program that focuses on providing activities and leisure opportunities that promote a healthy lifestyle. All youth involved in the Wellness Program are involved in the following:
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Daily leisure and exercise.
Youth at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch are involved in at least five hours of physical activity weekly and many opportunities to learn and develop positive coping skills through recreation.
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Weekly planning meetings.
Youth at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch have the opportunity to provide input into the activities that they will participate in during each week.
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Weekly recreation groups.
Youth at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch have the opportunity to participate with their peers in a recreation group that focuses on Teamwork, Sportsmanship, and Fun.
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Monthly empathy groups.
Youth at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch’s Fargo Youth Home participate in a monthly activity with the residents of a local retirement home to build empathy for others.
[1] President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: “Toward a Uniform Definition of Wellness: A Commentary” Series 3, No. 15 December 2001. |
